The Yōkai Taijiya
by FA91
Summary: A Yōkai Taijiya. A Hot-headed Monk. An Overly-hyperactive Monkey, A Carousing, womanising half-breed. A cool, calm and collected demon and his pet dragon. When the Sanzo Ikkou stumbles upon a young woman heading toward the same destination, the Houtou Castle, they discover there's more than meets the eye about her. SanzoxOC
1. Chapter 1

_AUTHOR NOTES: HELLO THERE! In celebration of 'Saiyuki Blast' anime that will be airing in Japan this coming July, as a long time fan of the series, I dedicate this chapter to all fans out there._

 _About this story; I have been wanting to write a good SanzoxOC fic for a really long time. Obviously because I am a Sanzo fangirl (hahaha), and I think it would be very interesting to see our Monk be interested in someone else._

 _There might be OOC moments later on, but I am doing my best based on the many anime episodes I have watched to make sure the boys stayed in characters. Please feel free to point out my mistakes if it gets too OOC. No flames please!_

Disclaimers: I owe nothing except the plot of this fic. All credits goes to Kazuya Minekura.

 _Synopsis: When the guys meet with a young interesting female yōkai taijiya, everything changes.A SanzoxOC fic._

 **Chapter 1: A Fated Encounter...Or Not.**

 **"HARAHETA!"** Son Goku whined for the tenth times that morning, hands spread in the air, for the entire world to hear his stomach growling loudly. "Hakkai, Are we still not there yet?"

"We're getting close to a nearby town. Please try your best to hold on, Goku," Cho Hakkai said cheerfully while remained vigilant on the greenery yet deserted road ahead.

It was yet another boring day as they heading to West. Hakkai, being the driver and the peacemaker in the group, had no complains that they haven't spotted any Yōkais for two days now since they'd left the previous town.

It was a rare blessing which did not come too often for them. Considering they were constantly being chased by Yōkais at every given turn. Nevertheless, Hakkai counted it a blessing anyway. Though he had to wonder why since it was making his two young companions restless without having something to vent on.

Sitting beside him on the passenger's seat, the high-Priest, Genjyo Sanzo, had his eyes closed. Hakkai had to wonder if the man had actually fallen asleep (which he sometimes does), or if he was deep in his own thoughts. Hakkai was about to call him when suddenly, something caught his eyes that made him pressed the brake pedal all the sudden, causing everyone to jerk and nearly fell off from their seats.

"Oi, Hakkai! Next time you wanna do a drift, at least think about _me_ who's sitting at the back and nearly got thrown off!" Sha Gojyo yelled, rubbing his aching neck.

"You're not the only one who'd nearly got thrown away, _ero-kappa!_ "

"My apologies, everyone. But it seems, we have companions." True enough, a group of Yōkais emerged from the clearance.

"Genjyo Sanzo! Hand over the scripture or die!"

"They honestly do not have anything new to say, huh?" Goku grinned, stretching his arms before summoning the _Nyoi-Bo_. In a fluid motion, he swung his weapon and landed a perfect mark on the incoming Yōkai.

It didn't take them very long to deal with those low-lives Yōkais who honestly really thought they had a chance against the Sanzo ikkou.

 _"Baaka!_ You guys should have already know better than to mess with us!" Goku scoffed mockingly. "On another note, my hunger is increasing rapidly… Sanzo, you sure you're not secretly hiding any crackers inside those long sleeves robe you're wearing?"

"Shut up, monkey!" Sanzo unleashed his rage by hitting Goku's head with his infamous harrisen.

"Is something the matter, Gojyo?" Hakkai asked, after noticing how the antenna on Gojyo's head twitched several times during their fight.

"Something… A scent, probably. No, wait! It's a _woman's_ scent, and it's coming from that direction!" He pointed one finger toward the Northward. Before any of his comrades could say anything, Gojyo was all but running toward the source of the giggling sound.

"My, my. I've never seen anything that could make him moves as fast as that except for maybe, chasing after girls. Shall we go and make sure he won't get into any trouble before we reach the nearby town?"

"How troublesome," Sanzo clenched his teeth. He lit a piece of cigarette on his mouth and exhaled deeply. "Oi, Goku. Fetch that pervy water-sprite and drag his ass back here. _Now._ "

"Roger that!"

 **IT** didn't take Goku long to track down Gojyo because as soon as he arrived at the scenes, he witnessed something horribly interesting: Gojyo got his butt kicked by a mere human female.

Soft brown eyes glared dangerously at the male Yōkai lying on the ground with a dumbfounded look on his face at what just happened. He had come out of nowhere and wasting no time flirting with her just as she finished dealing with a bunch of troublesome Yōkais.

"Honestly. Can't a girl catches her breath after defeating troublesome Yōkais one after another?"

 _Her voice was soft for the ears_ , Gojyo noticed as soon as he got up to his feet, brushing away any specks of dirt on his pants. There was still that flirtatious glee in his eyes, but more subtle than before.

"You're fast. I didn't even get to say my famous punchline before I realised, I was already laying on the ground."

"That was awesome! You'd totally kicked Gojyo's butt!" Goku approached them. "Ne, _oneesan_ , what's your name? Where do you come from? Did you come from the nearby town?"

"Stupid monkey! You're making her feel uncomfortable with your direct questions, can't you see?"

"Um…"

"Maybe she's feeling uncomfortable around you because you tried to do bad and horrible things to her!"

"Um, excuse me?"

"Whaddaya say? You wanna a piece of me, you stupid brat?!"

"In your dreams! You got your butt kicked by a girl, that means you're weaker than me!"

"EXCUSE ME!" Both of the men stopped their verbal argument and turned to look at the young woman who just yelled at them.

Early in her twenties, average height, with long dark hair tied in a high ponytail, the woman wore pink eyes shadows and an unusual outfit that made her stood up from the rest; a black skin-tight jumpsuit with a _kanji_ word for 'loyalty', written on her right shoulder, red armour plates and a pink sash wrapped around her waist for decoration.

The young woman standing before them was no doubt, a _hot_ babe, in Gojyo's eyes.

She cleared her throat to end the awkward silence. "Judging by the way you behaved, clearly, you are unlike the rest of those Yōkais I'd encountered in the past. Who are you, people?" She eyed the two troublesome Yōkais closely.

"I believe that brat had asked you the question first."

"Sanzo!" Goku looked at him and smiled in glee.

"You were taking your time fetching Gojyo, we both wondered what bad might happen to you both. At least I was." Hakkai smiled.

"Sanzo, you'd never guess what happened! Gojyo got his butt-"

"Shut up, monkey!" Like I want to know what that pervy water sprite did-"

"-kicked by a girl!"

All the sudden, there was a complete silence.

"...Oi, monkey. Did you just say, Gojyo got his butt _kicked_ by a girl?

"Right on the spot!"

A light chuckling from Hakkai was the last draw of insult which Gojyo could no longer take.

"Alright, fine! So I got my arse handed over to me by a girl. So what? She's a babe, anyway. I'll gladly let her kick me again, in bed." A smug appeared on his handsomely face.

"I think that will have to wait, Gojyo." Hakkai tapped a finger on his shoulder and pointed at the now empty spot which the young woman had been a while ago.

"Where did she go?"

Sighed tiredly, Sanzo said with a demanding voice, "Let's go."

"But wait, where had she gone off to-"

Bullets suddenly fired wildly at the water sprite pervert within millimetres away from hitting him.

"NOW!"

 _ **Soo, who is this mysterious babe Gojyo has set his eyes on? Find out more on the next chapter!**_


	2. Chapter 2: The Taijiya

**_AUTHOR NOTES: HELLO THERE! In celebration of 'Saiyuki Blast' anime that will be airing in Japan this coming July, as a long time fan of the series, I dedicate this chapter to all fans out there._**

 ** _About this story; I have been wanting to write a good SanzoxOC fic for a really long time. Obviously because I am a Sanzo fangirl (hahaha), and I think it would be very interesting to see our Monk be interested in someone else._**

 ** _There might be OOC moments later on, but I am doing my best based on the many anime episodes I have watched to make sure the boys stayed in characters. Please feel free to point out my mistakes if it gets too OOC. No flames please!_**

 **Disclaimers: I owe nothing except the plot of this fic. All credits goes to Kazuya Minekura.**

 _Synopsis: When the guys meet with a young interesting female yōkai taijiya, everything changes.A SanzoxOC fic._

 **Chapter 2: The Yokai Taijiya.**

 **SOON** after the Sanzo ikkou had a brief encounter with a mysteriously young woman who had disappeared under their noses, before arriving at the nearby town just before the sunset. Wasting no time, they checked into an inn before they went ahead to feed off their hunger at a nearby restaurant downstairs to their hearts' content.

"Ne, what do you think to happen to the oneesan who kicked Gojyo's butt?" Goku said, between munching a piece of dim sum and a large bowl of rice.

"Are we still talking about that? Let it go already, stupid monkey!" Gojyo retorted. He was no better at stuffing his face with food than the monkey beside him.

Sitting on the opposite side, Sanzo ate his dishes silently, but annoyingly at the loud sound of those two munching loudly. Meanwhile, Hakkai had expertly tuned out any noises and was in the middle of feeding Hakuryuu a piece of red meat, when the front door of the restaurant suddenly opened.

A young woman wearing what seems to be traditional foreign clothes, a kimono, on top of a long green skirt known as mobakama and a pair of black travelling boots, shut the door gently. She waved a hand at the owner who immediately noticed her and smiled broadly.

"Ah, _Yuri-sama!_ Welcome back. I heard you caught a big fish today. Well done!" The owner said warmly with a big smile. " Now, I am positively sure you must be terribly hungry by now. Please choose whichever seat that you like. I'll bring over your food later. It's my special treat!"

"Thank you, Tenzhi-san," Yuri smiled politely. Her soft brown eyes scanned for an empty table when they caught one particular table with a loud crowd. Within a heartbeat, she approached them.

Soft footsteps approaching their table caused the Sanzo ikkou to stop munching on their food.

"Do you mind if I join you, boys?"

Gojyo looked up. His mouth hung slightly. He was having a fun time twisting with the little monkey's mind when a rather familiar voice addressed them.

Not waiting for their replies, Yuri pulled a chair and sat down in between Goku and Hakkai. Soon after she had taken her seat, a waiter came serving her a glass of oolong tea. Thanked the man, Yuri gulped on the drink calmly.

Eight pairs of eyes watched her every move without blinking. Finally, one of them snapped out from their stupor and broke the ice.

" _Oneesan!"_ One accused finger pointed at her. Golden eyes sparkled in happiness. " I knew it!You're the neesan, aren't you?"

"What? No way!" Gojyo shouted, nearly spilt the alcohol in the cup he's holding in his hand. He had one finger pointing accusingly at her appearance. "You looked so different from just a few moments ago!"

Yuri repeatedly blinking her eyes. Glancing her accused 'new' look, she frowned slightly as not know to feel offended by the odd accusation.

"I just lowered down my hair and tie it loosely. And I changed my attires. Do I really look that much different from back then?" Yuri asked, sincerely. Curiosity got the best of her, that she needed to know how drastically she changed without her hair hanging behind her back.

Before Gojyo could answer her question, Tenzhi arrived carrying a big plate with a luxurious dish that made Goku drooled with sparkling eyes.

"Yuri-sama! Your dinner awaits you. I hereby serving you my restaurant's ultimate dish: ' _The Taijiya Special: honey lemon roasted chicken'!_ Please help yourself, Yuri-sama!"

"Thank you so much, Tenzhi-san. It is very kind of you. I see you even named the dish after my namesake, but, this is just too much! I couldn't possibly finish that amount-"

"Nonsense! Take your time consuming them. You'll be staying here for a while to talk, right? Besides, starting tomorrow morning, Yuri-sama will be leaving us after being here for three months... I've heard it from the Chief earlier today. Please, accept this humble dish of mine as a token of my gratitudes for all that you have done for this town."

"Taijiya? What's that?" Goku asked, pointing at the kanji letter of 'taijiya', carefully and delicately arranged slices of roasted chicken on the blinked his eyes innocently.

"' _Yōkai Slayer'_ , in Japanese," Sanzo replied, in a deadpanned tone. The tension in the air suddenly increased between them, with an exceptional of the oblivious Tenzhi.

"That's right! Yuri-sama is from a well-known Taijiya Village in Japan. She's one of the best of the best over there!" His endless compliments caused Yuri to turn deep shades of red.

"You're giving me way too many credits, Tenzhi-san!"

"Oh, there's no need for you to be so humble, Taijiya-san. I've seen you fight those yōkais on the battlefield. When you first came here three months ago, you were like the mighty _fèng huáng_ who wiped the yōkais that threatened to ruin this town to ashes! If it wasn't for you, none of us would be sitting here enjoying good and healthy meals right now..." His loud voice softened at the last sentences. Everyone sitting around the table could feel his gratitudes toward the young taijiya.

"I see. That certainly explained the lack of yōkai besides the one had taken out today," Hakkai nodded, mostly to himself.

"Thank you again, Tenzhi-san. I'm sure these chickens will taste heavenly, " Yuri gave a sincere smile. Nodded, Tenzhi quickly excused himself and went to the counter table where a customer was waiting to pay.

"Man, I'd thought he would never leave!" Gojyo sighed. Eyeing their new companion, a devious smirk broke his lips."Soo, a Japanese taijiya, huh. That explained the bruise on my ego and damage to my skin."

"You caught me at a wrong moment while I was dealing with those annoying _yōkais_. I'd thought you were simply one of them."

"Technically, you're not _wrong_ about that, Missy," Gojyo's smirk faded when he raised his cup and took a long sip.

"I know," Yuri replied coolly. "After all, who wouldn't recognise the infamous Sanzo Ikkou? Then again, people here are a bit dense. They wouldn't know who you are unless you introduce yourselves to them."

"Cut the crap," Sanzo, who had been silence this whole time, glared sharply at Yuri. "You approached us so boldly means you must have something that you want from us. Sorry to disappoint you lady, but we're not interested to hear anything that you have to offer." He stood up and prepared to leave.

"I see. I guess not even the blueprints of the Hontou Castle won't be tempting enough for you to listen to what I have to say, huh?"

Sanzo stopped. Turning around very slowly, he glared at the young woman through his long bangs.

"Blueprints of the Hontou Castle?"

Yuri pulled out a piece of neatly folded paper from her chest pocket and slammed it lightly on the table. Her eyes matched with Sanzo's sharp glare.

"Is that really the blueprints of the Hontou Castle? Why do you have it in your possession, Yuri-san?" Hakkai enquired.

"That depends on _Sanzo-sama's_ next move. Until then, I won't say another word." Yuri picked a piece of the now cold chicken using her chopsticks and put it on the empty plate. Saying her prayers, she began to nibble on the chicken in silence.

Goku drooled while watching her slowly consumed the slices of chicken. Gojyo lit up his cigarette and Hakkai resumed by finishing his drink.

" _Tch,"_ Sanzo dragged his feet begrudgingly to the table, sat down. Hands searching for his cigarette box, he found it and popped one into his mouth.

Meanwhile, Yuri grinned victoriously and mentally patted herself on the back for successfully bringing Sanzo back to his chair. Looking down at her half-empty roasted chicken, she gently pushed the plate away to Goku, who gladly and happily accepted the dish before devouring it in an instant.

After Sanzo has seated, Yuri handed the blueprint to Hakkai who shared it with the others.

"This is," Hakkai suddenly gasped.

"What? You saw something, Hakkai?" Goku looked over Hakkai's shoulders.

"The gigantic figure over there, is that Gyumao?" He pointed at a tall figure.

" _Eeeehhh?!"_ Gojyo and Goku exchanged looks. "THAT'S Gyumao?! That's the _yōkai_ we're supposed to fight against?!"

Ignored the two men's hassles over Gyumao, Yuri cleared her voice. "To answer your question of where I got it from is simple: I stole it from my homeplace in the Northern continent."

"Stole it from your home place? In Japan?"

"No. The Taijiya Village where I am from is divided into two parts; the Main House, which is based in Japan where the origin of the Taijiya was founded, and the Branch House, here on the Northern Continent. I am from the Branch House, but I'd often travelled a lot with the Main House family. Anyhow, the village was co-founded by two people; a Samurai man and a Buddhist Monk from China. We may be yōkai Taijiyas, but we have our strict codes in what we do for a living. That is not to kill the innocence, women or children."

Her eyes glanced down on the empty plates. Gone all the cheerfulness and liveliness on her face when she said the next words.

"That is, until a few months ago, something has changed. I'd left China to visit my relative, my oneesama, in Japan. She had just given birth to a healthy baby boy. I haven't seen her in years, so it was a good opportunity to go there. I'd ended up staying for a year and a half at her place before I received a notification that the Elder and the Okashira of the Branch House had passed away."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Hakkai said gently.

Yuri smiled a bit and nodded. "Thank you. I came back home as fast as I could for the funeral ceremony, only to find everything has changed while I was gone. The man who took over as the Head of the Village is a lunatic. He had committed the most unholy thing as a taijiya which none of his predecessors has ever done before: he'd raided few of the yōkai's village and brutally murdered everyone, including women and children."

"What did you say?" Goku gulped, golden eyes widened.

"When I'd found out what he had been doing, I confronted him and he confessed, saying yōkai and humans would never be able to live in harmony, especially now that the ' _Minus Waves'_ has been affecting the yōkai and causing them attack the humans. He'd urgently said he did he thought was best for everyone, for Mankind."

"So what happened next?" Gojyo asked, twisting his bangs with his long finger.

Yuri wrapped both hands on her half-empty glass. "I wasn't satisfied with the answer he'd given me, of course. But I couldn't argue with him any further since that would make me looked like I was rebelling against our _Okashira_. We taijiya are very devoted to each other. Going against the Okashira is an unforgivable act that could cause one's own life. Nevertheless, I'd made my own investigation about what has been going on since the day I'd left the village. It all pointed out to that blueprint you have on your hands. Apparently, the village has been struggling for some time now to the point of losing our lands. Then one day, a 'saviour' came to the village known by many as the 'black raven', made a pact with the current Okashira: if we agreed to become allies with him and his employer, in return, he would gladly help us out with our land problems. But that was all a lie. A big _stupid_ lie."

The glass she gripped on her hands made a small crack. Goku was about to point it out but he was immediately silenced by Sanzo's sharp glare.

"I soon found out the terrible truth about it: without even consulting anyone, not even the Elders, the Okashira signed the deal. Not long after he'd signed the deal, yōkai began attacking the village. They were unlike anything we've ever encountered before with strengths of ten men. Many of our brave men died protecting the village and people. I was no better. With few broken bones, ribs, I'd stumbled upon the Okashira's private chamber by accident and discovered the blueprint on his desk. Without thinking twice, I grabbed it and made a hasty escape from the village. I didn't look back since then."

"What makes you so sure it's a blueprint for the Hontou's Castle?" Sanzo asked.

"To be really honest with you, I didn't know what I had stolen until I had the time to look into the details properly. At that time, it seemed as if it was the one thing could lead me to find out more about the truth. It took a lot of efforts on my part from doing a lot of reading and researching to finally realise this is actually the blueprint of the Hontou Castle."

"So you're a fugitive now?"

"More or less," Yuri nodded. Finishing up her drink, and then she got up. "I'd love to stay and chat more, boys, unfortunately, duty calls," she pointed at a large muscular figure with a heavy moustache and a long scar across his left standing at the entrance.

The man gave a short but firm nod at her and crossed his arms, waiting for her to come.

"Who's that big muscle-man over there?" Gojyo asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"That's Lian Nong. He's Chief's personal bodyguard. Since he made an effort to come all the way here just to fetch me, it must mean that I'm already late to meet with the Chief. You boys will be staying at the inn tonight, right?"

"Yes. We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Right, Sanzo?" Hakkai asked the blonde monk to which he replied with a ' _hn'_.

Yuri smiled. "Then, I'll be seeing you around. I'm staying at the inn too. Nice to meet with you, Sanzo ikkou!"

Waving a hand at them, Yuri quickly made her way to Lian Nong. They exchanged a few words before exiting the restaurant.

"Well, that was interesting," Gojyo lit another cigarette, probably his fifth.

"Oh, oneesan forgets to take back the blueprint," Goku stated.

"What do you think, Sanzo?" Hakkai glanced sideway at their leader who had remained silence, staring into the air.

 **WHILE** the evening conversation that they had with Yuri was an interesting one indeed, none of them could deny the wariness they felt from travelling the whole day. Wary as they may be, Hakkai, being the ' _Mother'_ of the group, had insisted they do the groceries shopping tonight before the store closed, fearing they might not be able to buy the supplies should anything unexpected were to happen tonight.

Usually, the one who would prefer to be left alone in their given room while the rest went to buy their supplies, Sanzo decided for once, he would stretch his aching legs from the lack of walking or action. Walking down the town with his companions in front of them, his eyes caught a familiar sight of figures standing in front of based from the exterior, was the Chief's house. He watched as the Chief handed the young woman a small yet heavy bag in her hands: gold tokens, no doubt.

Yuri felt a familiar presence approaching them. Turning around, she broke into a small smile and waved at Sanzo, who glared and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'd thought you went straight ahead to bed after dinner. What are you doing out here?"

" _Hn._ None of your damn business," Looking at the Chief, a chubby and rounded face man in his early thirties, Sanzo gave a short nod before passing by them.

Watching as his back swayed in a strange kind of way, Yuri shrugged and continued her conversation with Chief. All the while, she kept a close tab on the High Priest's whereabouts. Morning came in early the next day when someone knocked softly on the Sanzo Ikkou's door.

The door opened slightly before a sight of Hakkai was revealed.

"Yuri-san, good morning. What brings you here first thing in the morning? Is something the matter?"

"Yes," Yuri, dressed in her battle outfit. Brown eyes stared back at him in serious, she breathed in deeply and exhaled. "Please, take me with you on your journey."

A/N: Soo, what do you all think about this chapter? Please leave a comment or two. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter! :D

 **Yuri- Lily**

 **Taijiya - Slayer**

 **Yōkai - Demon**

 **Fèng Huáng - Phoenix, in Mandarin**

 **Oneesan/ Oneesama - Big Sister / Big sister (formal)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Bet

**AUTHOR NOTES: HELLO THERE! In celebration of 'Saiyuki Blast' anime that will be airing in Japan this coming July, as a long time fan of the series, I dedicate this chapter to all fans out there.**

 **About this story; I have been wanting to write a good SanzoxOC fic for a really long time. Obviously because I am a Sanzo fangirl (hahaha), and I think it would be very interesting to see our Monk be interested in someone else.** **There might be OOC moments later on, but I am doing my best based on the many anime episodes I have watched to make sure the boys stayed in characters. Please feel free to point out my mistakes if it gets too OOC. No flames please!**

 **Disclaimers: I owed nothing except the plot of this fic. All credits goes to Kazuya Minekura sensei.**

 **Chapter 3: The Bet**

 **CHO** **HAKKAI** stood firmly, with his arms crossed over to his chest. Further away from where he stood, were two figures facing each other in a battle position on a cleared field, outside of the town.

Sighed deeply, he glanced at the blonde monk who was smoking silently beside him.

 _Just what were you thinking, Sanzo?_

Hakkai recalled back the conversation he had a moment ago.

 _"Please, take me with you on your journey!"_ Yuri had lowered her head in a bow that had left Hakkai totally flabbergasted.

"Y-Yuri-san? Please, lift up your head. Why the sudden…"

"I'm fully aware this is an odd request, Hakkai-san. But I must go to the West and confront the people who are responsible for the death of my people. Rumours has it that the Black Raven lives in the Houtou Castle. That's why I-"

"Oi, what's going on over there, Hakkai?" Entered Gojyo, pushing the door widely opened for everyone to see with one available hand while the other placed on a toothbrush in his mouth. His eyebrows went up high and for a while, he stopped brushing his teeth.

"Oneesan, good morning! Did you come here to join us for a breakfast?" Goku greeted her at the back, with a big smile.

"Ah. Good morning, Goku," Yuri smiled at Goku. "Actually, I'm here to ask everyone if I could join in your travel to the West?" This was not how she had planned in mind when she wanted to ask them to take her along in their journey.

 _Ah well. Better be direct now that the cat was out._

"That'll be great!" Goku shoved the pervert water sprite aside who had been standing still at the door, and landed beside the Taijiya. He held both her hands in the mid-air and said, "Welcome aboard!"

"What the hell did you do that to me for, you stupid monkey?!"

"What? Who brushes their teeth while standing in front of the door anyway?"

"Damn you stupid-" Gojyo's words were being silenced by a grouchy voice coming from behind him.

"I won't allow it." Sanzo's deep violet eyes glared sharply at Yuri.

"I don't know what your intention is, woman, nor am I interested to know, but this is not a school field trip. If you're still planning on going to the West, by all means, go on your own."

He walked passed Gojyo, heading toward the exit but stopped.

"Move."

"No," Yuri blocked the entrance with arms spread wide.

"Do not make me repeat myself. _Move._ "

" _No!_ " Yuri firmly stood on her ground, looking up at the man with the same glare he's giving her. "I won't budge until you listen to my proposal."

Clenching his teeth and tightened her fists, Sanzo barked, "Get her out of my sight, Goku!"

"Touch me and I'll make a roast monkey out of you, _Goku-san_ ," Yuri's eyes brightened by the light of the sun when she glared sharply at the younger man who looked completely torn.

"Please calm down you two!" Hakkai stepped in before a fight broke in between the Monk and the Taijiya.

If looks could kill, Sanzo would have gladly done so a long time ago. Instead, he clenched his teeth tightly until it made a loud noise.

"Fine," He finally said. "Here's the deal; if you could defeat one of us, then you are welcome to come along. However," A smirk appeared across his lips.

"If you lose, you will get out of our sight and never been seen again. Blueprints be damn."

"Deal."

 _And so, here we are._ Hakkai snapped from his deep thought by Goku's loud voice.

"I don't get it! Why must I fight her, Sanzo?"

"Just do it, Monkey! If you lose, I'll _kill_ you!"

Cringed at the threat, Goku looked at Yuri, unsurely. "But I just don't get it why must there be a fight in the first place! Why not just let her come along with us?"

"Oi, Goku. Sanzo-sama's doing this to test her. Break a leg!"

"Do your best, Goku! Good luck, Yuri-san!" Hakkai cheered.

"Is that so? You could have said that earlier, Sanzo!" Goku began to relax and took his place.

"I DID, YOU STUPID MONKEY!"

"My! Aren't we all lively this morning? Just so you know, Goku, I won't go easy on you, so I expect the same kind of treatment." Yuri moved forward to take her stance.

 _"Nyoi-bo!"_ Goku summoned his weapon. Grinning widely, he retorted, "I'll make sure you regret saying that, neesan!"

Running, Goku leapt high up in the air before diving back down bringing his Nyoi-Bo for a strike when a flash of silver streaked toward him and countered his attack.

Goku's eyes widened at the sound of blade clashed with his staff.

 _When did she take whatever that thing was out?_

Jumping backwards, he created a few distance between them. He gave a brief assessing look at the weapon she had in her hand: a wakizashi.

"A wakizashi?" Gojyo raised an eyebrow.

Beside him, Hakkai nodded. "Correct. It's means _'side inserted sword'._ It is one of the traditionally made japanese swords often being worn by the samurai class."

"Wow. you sure know a lot of the Japanese culture, Hakkai."

"That's because I love reading books. Unlike a certain _someone_ who only prefers to look at posters of naked women."

"Well, you know-"

"Oi, you two, stop it. Focus on the fight." Sanzo interfered.

Goku was getting frustrating by the way he kept on swinging his staff without successfully landing a hit. For every attack he had made, Yuri countered it with an equal speed and without failed.

Growled, Goku leapt back and away from her. He wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead using his left sleeves.

"Dammit, I just can't get through her defense!"

While the monkey was planning his next moves, Yuri did something that caught the other's immediate attentions: she returned the wakizashi into its sheath. Her hand hovered just above the hilt. Bending her knees, to lower herself into a stance ready for sprinting, she waited patiently for the right moment to strike.

"What is she doing?" Gojyo asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Usually people who wield weapon will use it to the best of its abilities. So then, why did she…" He stopped talking when the two figures moved fluidly, lunging themselves into battle.

Goku's staff came closing in a sharp piercing thrust. Yuri didn't draw her blade. Though her eyes remained vigilant as the edge of Goku's staff came toward her.

At the very last seconds, Yuri ducked down before leaping forward, and tackled him to the ground.

For a while, they both struggled on the ground until Yuri finally managed got the upperhand and securely sat on top of Goku, with one arm wrapped tightly around his head in a blood choke, while the other hand was holding a sharp pointed kunai touching his throat.

"Do you surrender?" Yuri asked, not tightened her hold on the young demon. Internally, she hoped he would raise a white flag soon before he succumbed to unconsciousness.

While the Taijiya had no real desire to kill the demon, she was determine to win the match If knocking Goku unconscious would make her win, then she would not hesitate to do so.

"Sa...San...zo…" Goku choked on his words.

"Oi, is she really planning to kill him? Do something, will ya, stinkin' monk!" Gojyo urged.

"Sanzo?" Hakai swiftly turned to the monk who gave a short nod.

"That's enough!" Hakkai raised one hand. Yuri immediately released the nearly unconscious monkey in her arms.

"The battle of this match is over. The winner is, Yuri-san."

 **"ARE** you okay, Goku? Can you breath properly?" Yuri asked gently to the young man still coughing from the lack of air.

 _"Gah!_ For a second here, I'd thought I almost died!"

"I'm very sorry to have to do that to you, Goku. Honestly, I have no intention of killing you, but I have to win the match at any given cost."

"Why? Why do you wanna go to the West so much?" At his question, Yuri looked down at her hands with a deep scowl.

"I need to find out who's the 'Black Raven' that caused the Okashira to commit such hideous crime that killed many innocent lives. I heard rumours about him in the West. That's why I need to go there and find out. If I were go alone to the West, I won't be able to go very far. That's why I need strong team to go there with. Team who can handle strong and powerful yokais because as we venture deeper into the West, there will be more challenges await us there. Do you see my points now, Goku? Why I need to go there very badly?"

Goku nodded. "I understand. You won the fight anyway. So," he turned around to the rest of his companions, approaching toward them. "A deal is a deal. Right, Sanzo?"

"That was an interesting fight," Gojyo commented, lending a friendly pat on Yuri's shoulder. "Dirty, but good."

Yuri thanked him. She dusted herself off while Goku got up on his feet.

"A Taijiya must always be prepared for anything. Even if sometimes it forces us to use dirty tricks."

"You were remarkably fast, Yuri-san," Hakkai complimented. "Your weapon, it's called wakizashi, is it not?"

The Taijiya nodded. She took out from its sheath and handed it over to Hakkai for him to see. There were three curved words written in kanji on the hilt that read: _kill to protect._

Handing back the weapon to the Taijiya, Hakkai turned to their leader with a knowing smile.

"So, I guess this means she's one of us now. Sanzo?"

Sanzo scoffed, blowing a circle of smoke. "I'll make this very clear; you are bound to MY rules. Which means, no whining, arguing or protesting against my orders regardless of what. What you do during your short free time is up to you. Also, if you get left behind, or being cornered, don't expect us to wait for you or come to your rescue. Are we clear?"

"Yes," Yuri nodded, firmly. "I promise not to be a burden to everyone, especially to you, _Sanzo-sama_."

With a typical _hn_ , Sanzo made his way to Hakuryuu who had changed into a jeep and took his seat at the front. The others followed.

"Ne, Is it okay if I call you neesan?" Goku asked, as Hakkai began to drive carefully.

"Sure," Yuri nodded with a smile, much to Goku's delightment.

" _Finally_ , a girl in our team!" Gojyo playfully smacked her back. "Don't you worry about that stinkin' monk. I'll take _really_ good care of you."

"Waa, Gojyo's antennas twitched! Neesan, get away from that _dangerous_ Ero-Kappa, or else he's gonna eat you alive!" Goku Hands wrapped his hands on his 'oneesan' protectively from Gojyo's lecherous eyes.

"What are you saying, stupid monkey?! And why do you have your arms wrapped around her? You pervert!"

"YOU'RE the pervert! _Pervert!_ "

"ENOUGH!" Sanzo interfied loudly with a smack on the two yokais' heads with a harrisen.

Yuri had automatically lifted her hands to protect her head,

when she saw Sanzo turned around. Unkindly, the force of the harrisen had affected her, causing her to sway to the right and smacked her head slightly into Goku's hard jaws, hurting them both even further.

Rubbing her throbbing head, she muttered few ouches before looking up and meet with Sanzo's stoically yet amused face. Rising an eyebrow, he waited to see how she would react next.

When all Yuri could give was a silly grin, it earned her yet another hn, before Sanzo turned his back at them. His cold and hard exterior, as well as his walls returned.

 _Was Genjyo Sanzo really expecting a comeback from her?_ Yuri spent most of her time that day wondering about that.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: Gamble**

 **AUTHOR NOTES: HELLO THERE! In celebration of 'Saiyuki Blast' anime that will be airing in Japan this coming July, as a long time fan of the series, I dedicate this chapter to all fans out there.**  
 **  
About this story; I have been wanting to write a good SanzoxOC fic for a really long time. Obviously because I am a Sanzo fangirl (hahaha), and I think it would be very interesting to see our Monk be interested in someone else.**

 **There might be OOC moments later on, but I am doing my best based on the many anime episodes I have watched to make sure the boys stayed in characters. Please feel free to point out my mistakes if it gets too OOC. No flames please!**

 **Disclaimers: I owe nothing except the plot of this fic. All credits goes to Kazuya Minekura sensei.**

* * *

 **DAYS** went by smoothly for the Sanzo Ikkou and the latest additional member of their team, the Yokai Taijiya named Yuri. The men were surprised to see how easily she managed to adapt their hectic lifestyle.

True to her own words, Yuri never whined, argued, nor protested any of Sanzo's orders, even when the odds were against her. Instead of getting angry or upset at the blonde monk, she'd simply given the monk a smile that could easily rival with Hakkai's own.

Other than that, she was a great additional help to the party. Yuri had quickly become Goku's unofficially appointed 'oneesan' whom he came to respect and cared for, Gojyo's constant teasing buddy and finally, Hakkai's helper when it comes to homemaking: keeping the stock constantly in check and maintaining the peace in the group.

Sanzo had made it very clear he did not want to be involved with anything related to her whatsoever, which was fine with Yuri. For her, it was already kind enough of Sanzo to let her come along when the thought of her coming along still irked him even though she had won the bet he had set, fairly.

All Yuri had to do was to stay on his good side and tried her best to keep her distance away from the man as far away as possible.

Simple and easy enough.

Yet, there were times which Yuri took noticed of the blonde monk stared at her, not in the way how Gojyo's eyes tend to linger (whenever he thought she didn't notice), but more like he was studying her and trying to figure out what her motives were whenever she did something nice for the Ikkou.

Yuri had been blunt when the first time she caught him staring at her. She had asked him directly if there was anything that he found interesting on her face. Sanzo's answer had been short and unkind before he turned away sharply.

The young Taijiya could not help but giggle at the light pink shades visible on his cheeks when he'd turned away. Since then, Sanzo tried to be more of a subtle approach which still went noticed by the Taijiya, but Yuri simply shrugged and let it go.

On the other hand, and though they have been travelling together for almost two weeks now, there was something about the beautiful Taijiya sitting behind Hakkai (because the stupid monkey had insisted he sit in the middle from now on), that still bugged him more often than not.

A pair of red eyes glanced over at the Taijiya with her hair down and sporting in a casual attire, she was reading a small book situated on her laps silently. Gojyo couldn't help it if he sometimes tends to stare lingered at her lately.

She was a beautiful babe _._ Captivating. He'd seen her fought in battles against those yokais and greatly impressed by her skills and strength. The way she wielded the wakizashi and swung it like a true swordswoman who really knew her weapon very well was truly a magnificent sight.

It mesmerised him even more so, one day, out of the blue, Goku had asked her just how many weapons did she keep at her disposals beside the wakizashi. The Monkey had claimed to have seen her used other weapons in battles such as the _kunai,_ senbon _,_ shukiren _,_ kusari _-_ fundo _,_ and even wire strings, at some points.

The Taijiya replied with a finger on her smiled lips. "It's a _sec~ret~,_ " she said with a wink that caused the younger demon in their group to pout childishly but quickly, he recovered with a sheer determination to expose her secrets no matter what.

It mesmerised Gojyo how well she handled the Monkey's constant questions which allowed Hakkai to take a break from it once in awhile. However, that did not mean she was a pushover either as there had been times when Yuri had scolded the Monkey for his childishness behaviour, despite only knowing him for weeks.

 _Goddammit._ Gojyo internally swore. Here was a babe within his reach and yet he was too much of a coward to even admit aloud that he found her really attractive. Sure, he had teased her, a lot, and even made suggestive comments about them being together alone in the dark while the others were soundly asleep, nonetheless, Gojyo had never put much of an effort to go along with his words, which caused Yuri to be more relax around him and easily deflated his advances without batting an eye. Or, if she was in the mood to be playful, Yuri would play along with it until Gojyo decided it was enough.

Still, a question remained. How could a woman like her be travelling alone in out of nowhere? While he knew going to the West was a very important mission for her, he couldn't help but wonder if the 'Black Raven' dude hadn't come to her village and wrecked it down, would she be settling down with someone right now or will she still goes on to an adventure and travelling the world?

Judging by how often she enjoyed reading books (a trait he'd found she shared in common with Sanzo and Hakkai), Gojyo concluded she would most probably choose the latter. He couldn't really imagine her being the loyal stay-at-home type while waiting for her husband to come back home from a mission every night.

"We're closing in a nearby town, everyone," Hakkai's smooth voice shook Gojyo from his deep thoughts.

" _Finally,_ " Goku stretched his long arms and yawned. Yuri closed her book and kept in aside a small bag she carried around. She too stretched her arms and yawned contagiously.

"I'm hungry!" Goku started to whine, in a heartbeat.

"Me too," the Taijiya rubbing her growling belly. "Come to think of it, we've only had rice crackers and sodas for lunch. I don't know about you boys, but I'm ready for some steak!"

"Me three. I've been dying to eat some real meat," Gojyo winked at her.

"Whichever meat are you referring to?" Sanzo's voice came from the front. "Knowing you, there's only one _meat_ that you'd go after."

"You wanna pick a fight, ya stinking monk?"

 _"Boys._ We've almost reached the town there. Please just hang in there for a little while, okay? Besides, haven't you all heard of the saying, 'sharp stomachs make short graces?'"

"No, what does it means?" Goku enquired.

"It means, hunger can make you rude, and that lead to some people attacking you with sharp things," Hakkai replied cooly, which left Yuri snickered.

"But Sanzo doesn't have a sharp thing except for his stupid gun! And he's a jerk anyway, hungry or not!" Gojyo retorted.

"Shut up! If you wanna go ahead and leave so much then do it!"

"Alright, that's enough. Sanzo-"

"See what I mean by being a jerk? He's a real pain in the arse kind of jerk hiding underneath that monk's robes."

"Gojyo, _please_. Sanzo, please sit back down what are you doing?"

Sanzo was pointing his gun at Gojyo much to everyone's fear. The situation was this; Goku was cowering in the middle, Gojyo was sitting with his arms in the air in arguing position and Yuri were half-lending toward Goku in order to stop the argument between those two.

Before anything bad could happen to them, the jeep stopped moving all the sudden, causing them to jerk all over the place.

"We've arrived!" Hakkai quickly announced. Happy that he managed to arrive just in time to avoid the potential volcanic eruption between the monk and the half-breed.

"Thank God," Goku quickly get off the jeep. Offering his hands for his oneesan to help her get off from the jeep, he was stopped when he saw how the other three remained still in their positions.

Goku sighed. "Hey, you two. Didn't you hear Hakkai said we've arrived? I'm hungry! Sanzo, let's go already!"

"Shut up, Monkey!"

"But..." Goku pouted.

"Brats should just stay out of adults' business!"

Frowned disapprovingly, Yuri retreated from her seat and jumped down from the jeep. Without any hesitation, she slung one arm around Goku's neck, much to his surprise.

"Let's go, Goku," Yuri gently pulled the younger yokai toward the crossed arms and patiently waiting for Hakkai at the front of the inn.

"But they're still-"

 _"Goku,"_ Hakkai's gentle yet stern voice caught his immediate attention. "There comes a time when a real man knows when to pick a fight and also when to give up a fight. Please try to remember that as you get older."

 _Ouch. That sure hit their egos to the booth._ Yuri silently contemplated. Glancing at the stinkin' monk and the Ero-Kappa, she noticed they have stopped arguing with each other and just glaring instead. Sighed, Yuri entered the inn with the teenage in her arm and the gentle yokai.

* * *

 **IT** didn't take those two long to finally making their appearance around the table. It just so happens, both have decided to take a seat next to Yuri, still with an electrical air between them. Once their meals have ordered, they waited patiently for the food to arrive.

Taking the silence awkward into an account, Yuri decided to use the time to observe their surrounding. So far, nothing seemed to be amiss. There were no signs of any yokai's activities, which was good but very doubtful considering there were a lot of them on the way coming here. She had to do a little bit investigation once she filled in her empty belly.

"Is something the matter, Yuri-san?" Hakkai's question brought her back to reality. Blinking her eyes, she realised she had been glaring everywhere as if she was expecting someone to ambush them at any moment.

Flushed, Yuri quickly shook her head and assured nothing was wrong.

"If you say so," The older man nodded reluctantly.

Yuri nodded. "I would like to explore this town a little bit after this. Probably going to see who's in charge around here and asks him few questions."

"That _again?_ Aren't you getting tired having to suck up the town's leader all the times just to see if there have any yokai activities been going on in each town we've stopped by? Sure, it's Noble stuff and all, but still…"

Yuri shook her head. "Fugitive or not, I am first and foremost, a yokai Taijiya. As a taijiya, it is my duty to protect civilians from the wrath of any yokais. If I were to ignore those in need of my protection, then I might as well hang my armour and commit suicide."

"Woah, woah! You don't need to go that far, neesan!" Goku protested.

Yuri lowered her eyes and pushed away her empty plates. "Without becoming a Taijiya, I am nothing. I can't lead a normal life like other civilian women. Being a Taijiya is the only thing I've ever known on how to live. I might as well commit suicide."

"Still, that's a bit harsh," Hakkai commented, sipping on his cup of sake. "But I suppose everyone has their own reasons if they want to end their lives."

Gloomy air lingered around them that quickly spoiled the mood. Each was deep in their own thoughts of the journey to the West and the aftermath, should they survived the battle against Gyumao.

* * *

 **YURI** passed through the lively market alone. She had excused herself earlier on after dinner while the guys headed to their designated room for a rest.

It's strange that she would actually feel something whenever it comes to death-related matter, per their discussion earlier. Yuri had always thought when the time comes for her to go, whether on the battlefield or not, she would be prepared to face it. But now, for the first time, she felt a string of fear creep in.

Why is that, she pondered. Was it because now she's travelling with a group of people? But that's ridiculous! She had travelled with her fellow taijiya before and even went as far as crossed-countries with them. Yet she had never felt anything for them just as she was feeling with her newfound companions.

 _An attachment._

Clenching her teeth, Yuri pushed all thoughts aside as she approached a well-designated building.

It didn't take a genius to figure out this was the house of the town's leader. Taking a deep breath, Yuri raised a hand and was just about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened and she came face-to-face with a teen boy with an eyepatch, running straight into her before falling down on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Yuri kneeled down and offered a hand. The teenage boy looked up at the hand offered to him before hesitatingly take it. Without thanking her, he turned around and yelled, "See if you could actually stop me from leaving, old man!"

Turning back to Yuri, he forcefully walked passed beside her.

"Oh yeah? See if I'd actually care you come back alive or not, Shin!" A grouchy male voice belonged to an elderly man standing in the shadows of the door, holding a wooden stick in the air, shouted back at the front door.

The boy, 'Shin', halted in his steps. Yuri could see how his muscles tense and fists clenched tightly before he marched forward to the busy town, uncaringly.

 _"Bah!_ That little rant will come back running with his tail between his legs." The elderly man sighed heavily. Eyeing the young Taijiya who was still standing beside the door, he turned his face fully to meet her gaze.

Yuri had to hold back her gasp when the elderly man stepped into the light, she immediately saw a long fresh scratch across his face.

"What happened? Were you being attacked by a yokai?" Yuri asked, concerned was evidently on her face.

The elderly man scoffed.

"You bet it is. Those yokais nearly skewered my face off, but I'd shown 'em a thing or two!" He laughed, forcefully. "Of course… you couldn't possibly win when it's one against three."

"Three yokais?"

"Three tribal yokais. Sons of bitches!"

"Oh," Yuri lowered her gaze. Clenching her fists, she looked up to him again with a confident smile. "Well, you're in great luck, Sir. I'm here to offer you my services."

* * *

 **NIGHT** settled in and yet, there was still no signs of the Taijiya's whereabouts ever since she'd left her comrades after finished her dinner.

"It's getting late. Where do you think she could possibly be?" Hakkai asked, worriedly.

"Dunno," Gojyo exhaled the smoke from his fifteenth cigarette. He lazily threw a dart on the wall and aimed at the centre. In truth, he had been wandering about the Taijiya's whereabouts himself. After their awkward dinner ended, Gojyo's mind had filled with nothing but what Yuri had said:

"If I were to ignore those in need of my protection, then I might as well just hang my armour and commit suicide."

Noble as it may sound, he couldn't believe his own ears those words were spoken by the same woman who was stronger than any woman he'd known all his life. He'd wanted to comment, to say something, a protest about her statement when the stupid monkey had once again cut him off and took the words straight from his mouth.

Damn it! It's like the whole world is up against him for having a feel-

"Wait- what?" Gojyo blinked his eyes when a small hand was waving quite close to his own face before it gently knocked on his head.

" _Oi~! Goj~yo~_ are you still there?" Goku blinked his eyes innocently. Swiftly, Gojyo patted the monkey's hands away from his face.

"Don't touch me with your dirty hands, _monkey!_ "

"What? They're cleaner than yours! Don't deny it, Ero-Kappa! I've seen what you've done with your hands whenever-"

"Will the two of you shut the hell up?!" Sanzo yelled loudly. His left hand threatened to take out the harissen when the door suddenly opened.

"Oh, what did I miss?" Yuri looked at them questioningly. In her arms, she carried two brown bags.

 _"Oneesan!"_ Goku ran toward her and helped her carried one bag, much to her appreciation. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you!"

"Sorry, I got carried away talking with the mayor just now," Yuri laughed, apologetically. "Put the bag over here, Goku. I need to rearrange them before I leave again."

"Leave? Where to?"

Yuri told them about her encountered with the teenaged boy Shin and the Elderly man, Hoku. She also informed them about the three tribal yokais lived in the caves few miles away in the East that threatened the town's safety.

"Upon hearing his story, I could not just ignore it. So naturally, the Taijiya inside me stepped in and offered them my services," Yuri checked a set of deadly kunais she'd just bought from the Blacksmith down the street who was kind enough to provide her enough weapons she needed to replace.

They all have been listening intensively to her story. It was Sanzo who broke the silence. "You do realise if you're slow us down, there's no way we'll be waiting here for you to come back, right?"

"No worries," Yuri shrugged. "Which is why, I'm telling you now if I don't come back in the morning, go ahead to the West without me." Yuri finished packing her stuff. Wordlessly, she headed to the entrance and shut the door lightly as her footsteps slowly began to fade.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclamer: I don't owe the anime Saiyuki or the characters except for Yuri. Everything rightfully belong to Kazuya Minekura sensei.**

 **Chapter 5: Mislead**

 **TO** say Yuri was happy to slay those tribal yōkai that have been causing troubles and terrorising the town was an understatement. She was _ecstatic!_ Finally some actions! Not that there haven't been any actions lately. It was just that it had been awhile since she had some _real_ action that actually made her bleed.

If there was anything that could bring a Taijiya joy, it was the art of killing that ruthless and powerful yōkai. As cold-hearted as it may sound, it was the one thing all Taijiya had been taught since young: conceal, don't feel.

Sure, it was hard for any beginners for the first few killings, but as time moved on, they learned how to keep and managed their emotions without turning their hearts to hard and cold stone.

Besides, they would only go after yōkai who caused harms to other humans or the ones who were affected by the Minus Wave and could no longer be saved.

Unlike most Taijiya in her village, while others were taught to only use a weapon and mastered it until they became an extend part of them, Yuri had taken ten steps further and mastered all types of weapon available out there.

From wielding blade to archery to making explosives and gunpowder, Yuri had trained herself harder than anyone else to get to where she was now and earned the title as 'the best of the best' Taijiya inside and outside of her community.

Her trip to Japan had increased her weapon handling skills with the country's weapons and improved her natural skills to the point she had insisted on bringing most of the weapons back to China, despite her dear _onee-sama's_ warning.

Now as she stood on the tree branches, watching over the cave said to be the lair of the three tribal yōkai, Yuri contemplated her next moves.

It would be a reckless and not to mention, foolish move if she charged into the cave head on when there was only one way in and out. Well, as far as she's concerned. There could be other exits, but Yuri doubts she has all the time in the world to explore them. Her job for this mission was to take down the three tribal yōkai and presenting their heads to the Elder Hoku.

The damn obnoxious old fart had laughed in her face when she had proudly told him that she came from a well known Taijiya Village in the North continent. That certainly hurt her pride more than Yuri was willing to admit, but she kept her cool, almost.

With a forced smirk, Yuri had challenged Hoku by saying she would stop the yōkai from terrorising the town, which had earned her a rude snort from the man.

"Stop 'em? You think those lil' tribal bitches are gonna stop just cause you told them to? You're in a wrong dream, sweetheart! Go home!"

"Wait!" Yuri had then pushed herself in between the closing door. Ignored of the pain, she furtherly said, "I can prove it to you! Name it. Anything you want me to do, I'll do it!"

Okay. So _maaybe_ her Taijiya pride did hurt more than she willing to let on. While her heart had screamed at her, telling her to stop talking nonsense and back away, her mind refused to quit without a fight.

Hoku rose an eyebrow. " _Anything?"_

"Anything related to yōkai hunting. Which part do you want? Hands, legs, eyeballs-"

"Heads. I want to see the three of those bitches' heads serving on a silver plate." Hoku smirked arrogantly, hands crossing his arms.

All the while, he thought, _she couldn't possibly mean it._

"Deal."

Pulling something out of her sleeves; a small explosive ball she had purchased from the blacksmith earlier on. Lighting it with a lighter, Yuri threw the lighted ball into the cave and counted to three.

 _One. Two. Three._

 ** _Bang!_**

The cave shook tremendously. Yuri watched carefully with trained eyes as shadows hastily came out from the cave.

Smirked, Yuri leapt in the air while holding onto a worn out bag in her hands and then began to dance the impossible dance by throwing sharp pointed weapons such as the kunai, senbon, or even darts at the yōkai.

It was rapidly fast. _She_ was rapidly fast. It looked like as if a tornado was closing into them and ate them alive.

By the time Yuri ended her so-called _dance_ , there were only bodies of yōkai on the ground with blood splattered everywhere.

"Piece of cake," Yuri folded the already empty bag.

"As expected, the weaker ones will no doubt be the first to come out of the hideout to save their own sorry arses. Whereas," she looked forward at the hideout, with a frown. "The strongest ones will remain inside to protect their leaders."

Numerous red eyes glared back at her in the darkness.

Throwing the bag away, Yuri drew her wakizashi and sliced through the first yōkai charging at her with the first draw. Charging in, Yuri used her quick speed to full its advantages. Dodging the incoming attack from her left, Yuri leapt into the air. With a loud cry, she brought her blade down and sliced the yōkai's head into halves. Blood splattering on her armour, but Yuri didn't care. Her brown eyes remained focused.

Her senses alerted for the incoming attacks. Moving in a blur, Yuri continuously dodged, parried and slew the enemies without any hesitation or mercy.

With the last yōkai being slaughtered, Yuri panted heavily. Wiping the blood spattered on her face with the back of her sleeves, she observed her surroundings and made sure there were no more yōkai hiding in the darkness.

Once it was confirmed that she was the only one standing, Yuri took out something from the small pouch she had wrapped around her waist: a light stick.

Breathing in deeply, she cautiously made her way into the deeper part of the cave.

 **SOMETHING** was definitely wrong here. Sha Gojyo concluded after he'd done enough observation the way the rest of his companions behaved in the room they've shared.

The stinkin' monk was lying on the bed, _pretending_ to be asleep (Gojyo knew he wasn't because his left eye kept on twitching every 25 seconds. He'd purposely counted.) The stupid monkey was staring at the ceiling and Hakkai? Well, he was resting with Hakuryuu while reading a book. (Seriously, what's up with everyone and their books!)

Red eyes moved from his companions to the clock hanging on the ceiling.

Already 2:10 A.M, yet, none of them was really falling asleep like they _should_ be doing if they were going to leave the town first thing in the morning.

It was creepy, to be in the same room where everyone was being silenced. Even Goku's constant 'I'm hungry' ramble was forgotten by the teen himself.

All because of _her._

 _Damn_. Just when Gojyo'd thought he could resist not thinking about her, off she went and did something that made him want to think about her!

Her words had affected everyone somehow, especially Goku. He'd wanted to go after her and help her out with whatever Taijiya mission she had but was stopped by Sanzo who'd threatened to leave him behind.

Now, he's sulking and refused to talk to anyone.

Gojyo sighed. Stretching his arms, he was about to call it a night (morning?) when he heard noises coming downstairs.

"What did you say?! You let sent a girl to her own death by fighting the tribal yōkai?!" Shin's voice boomed, towering over Hoku.

"I'd thought she was just pulling my legs when she said she came from a famous Taijiya Village from the North! It was a good catch! How was I supposed to know she's the real thing?!"

Shin groaned, rubbing his throbbing forehead. "Regardless, the fact that you've sent someone out there is the same as asking her to commit suicide! Rumours about the tribal yōkai attacking the village have already proven to be a fake news! FAKE! _You_ of all the people should have known better than to let such fake rumours circulating around the village! We're protected by the 'Yu Lia's Promise', remember? That's the only reason why those tribal yōkai stopped attacking us all those donkey years ago! That's why I keep asking you not to get carry about with the Play, you crazy old man!"

"Excuse me," Hakkai's voice interrupted the conversation. "I _hate_ to interrupt your loud discussion, but we heard you talking about a Taijiya and also, the tribal yōkai?"

Shin turned around apologetically, for waking them up. He told them nothing was wrong, and again apologised for causing a ruckus when Hakkai pressured him again with the questions.

Sighed, Shin glared at Hoku who quickly looked away.

"There has been a misunderstanding. My senile Mayor here has caused a big ruckus with one of your companion earlier today," He proceeded by telling her what went on between Yuri and Hoku and the challenge they'd bet.

"So are you saying there are no tribal yōkai?" Goku asked, scratching his head.

"Not exactly. There are tribal yōkai living in the cave nearby. However, they are harmless. It is believed that Yu Lia, a deity who came to this place hundred years ago, made a peace pact with the tribal yōkai not to disturb this town. In exchange, we will not lay a single finger on any of the yōkai."

"Yu Lia's Valley," Sanzo suddenly spoke. "I've heard of the name and the legend surrounded it before. Never thought I'd come to the actual place."

Shin nodded. "Because of 'Yu Lia's Promise', we were being spared from becoming the Yokai's meals. However, that does not stop us from mock them. Thus, every year, we have a Play retelling the story of how 'Yu Lia's Promise' came to be."

"Hoku's here is our Mayor as well as the person in charge of the scriptwriter for the upcoming Play. But for some reason," Shin glared sharply at Hoku. "He decided it would be fun to see how far-fetched his 'brilliant' ideas on the play with a twist goes with your lovely companion as a bait."

Hoku rolled his eyes and sighed. "It was a perfect twist! A Japanese Taijiya from a well-known Village came into the picture! Ooh, I could already imagine how it ends!"

"How does it ends?" Sanzo asked, lighted cigarette on his mouth

"Tragic, dramatic death, of course! Who wouldn't love a tragic death-" Hoku's words were cut short by another question thrown at them.

"Where's the hideout cave?" Gojyo asked quickly, hopping onto jeep along with the others.

"Uh, head to the East from here," Shin answered hesitatingly. "Wait! Don't tell me you're actually going there? It's dangerous!"

"Don't worry," Hakkai replied, reassuringly. "We're just going to retrieve our companion."

"Let's go," Sanzo ordered.

 **IT** was easier said than done. By the time the Sanzo ikkou arrived at the tribal yōkai's hideout, even Sanzo had to admit the finishing was a gruesome one.

"No way… Neesan did this?" Golden eyes wandered at the yōkai corpses lying on the blood splattered ground. The smell of blood was strong, he had to cover his nose with one hand.

"Talk about massive destruction," Gojyo whistled. "If they're lying dead outside, then she must be inside."

"Yes," Hakkai nodded. "It's commonly known amongst yōkai, especially in a big group, that the stronger ones are kept inside. These were just the small fries."

"What are we waitin' here for? Let's go!" Goku charged hastily toward the cave. _Please don't die, neesan. We're coming for you!_

 **YURI** gasped loudly the moment she hit her back hard on the hard concrete walls. Blade pointed onwards at her opponents, she gritted her teeth at the pain she suffered on her body from the cuts and bruises inflicted by the three yokai leaders.

They were gigantic yōkai. The leader was a green skinned with one thorn on his head and wielding an axe. Beside him to the left, was a red skinned yōkai with three thorns on his skull, wielding a club, and lastly, the third yōkai was a yellow skinned with thorns on his back. He didn't wield anything and only used his strong and dead fists.

Yuri's breathing laboured, but she remained focused on them. Never letting her guards down even for seconds.

 _Shit._ They weren't kidding when they saved the best for last. Upon arriving the inner part of the lair, Yuri found herself being surrounded by the three yōkai and instantly being thrown into a battlefield without as much as introducing herself, like she usually would do as a sense of courtesy.

They were enraged and went out at her in full force and all at once that Yuri had difficulties to counter their attack, resulting to defend herself.

Wiping the smear of blood at the side of her broken lips, she readjusted her wakizashi.

"What's wrong, Taijiya? Here I thought you were 'the best of the best' from the infamously well known Taijiya Village. Pity the village was now destroyed," said the yōkai leader with a grin.

Yuri's eyes widened. Her hand unconsciously clenched on the wakizashi.

"How did you know about the village? Answer me!"

The yōkai laughed mockingly at her question. "Foolish mortal! Every yokai has heard about the good news! The Taijiya village has been a pain in our asses for the past years. Nothing bring us joy than hearing it being destroyed!"

"Shut up!" Yuri barked. Memories of that night flashed in her mind. The yōkai attack. Many of her people being slaughtered. Yuri could barely make it alive from there had it not for her accidentally stumbling into the Okashira's chamber.

 _Okashira._

"What else have you heard about my village? The Okashira, is he still alive?" Though she knew it was pointless to ask the condition of the Okashira from the yōkai, the possibilities that they might know something was greater than her doubts.

"Okashira? Ah, that arrogant son of a bitch! So he's your Okashira, is he?"

"So you knew him?" Yuri's frown deepened. _So it's true. The Okashira's really working under Gyumao's forces after all…_

"Enough chit-chatting!" One of the tribal yōkai angrily shouted. "You human bastards dared to come and slaughtered our people! 'Yu Lia's Promise' be damned! I'll kill you and consume the entire village!"

 _"NYOI-BO!"_ Goku's staff landed a hit on the yokai's head before he swiftly made a smooth and landed perfectly in front of Yuri.

"Goku! Why are _you_ doing here? Why are all of you doing here?"

"Neesan left without givin' us a proper explanation. 'Course, we have to get you back and demand it!" He turned around and smiled boyishly at her.

Yuri looked taken by his answer. Turning to her faraway left, she saw the rest of her companions stood with their guards up.

Hakkai stepped forward. "My apologies. It seems our dear Taijiya companion here, has been given a misleading information. We are here to retrieve her back. We're very sorry for what she has done to your people. Would you kindly allow us to do just that without spilling any blood?"

"You three are yōkai, and you're defending her, a taijiya?" The leader scoffed. "Traitorous bastards! Why do you siding with the humans?!"

"Is that a no then?" Hakkai sighed. Deep down, he knew, things would come down to this in the end. Yet, he'd really wished that for once, they could settle the score without spilling blood.

"Die, you traitorous bastards!" The green skinned yōkai lifted its axe and smashed the ground where Hakkai had been mere seconds ago.

Hakkai leapt in the air and gathered a medium size ball of Chis in his hands, before releasing it at the yōkai. The green skinned yōkai shrieked in pain. It didn't have the chance for a counterattack when the sound of a shotgun echoed throughout the cave.

The green skinned yōkai faded to ashes.

Sanzo had moved to a blind spot area while Hakkai distracted the yōkai into talking. He kept his gun pointed at the rest of the living yōkai.

"Now...Which one of your bastards want to die next?"

The two yōkai were left in stunned by the death of their leader.

"You...You bastard! Aniki! You killed _Aniki!"_ The red yōkai raised his club and threw it at Sanzo's direction.

 _"Sanzo!"_

"Shit," Sanzo clenched his teeth. Covering himself for the impact when he felt a breeze of wind followed quickly by a strong force pushing him to the over side as the enlarged club hit the ground where he once stood. Thus, creating a huge concrete on the walls.

Slowly opening his eyes, the first thing Sanzo saw was a pair of concerned soft brown eyes looking down to him.

"Are you hurt?"

Sanzo groaned at the back of his throat. He sat up quickly and began to inspect any injuries on his body. When he found none, he sighed in relief.

"...Thanks," Sanzo muttered, without even looking at her.

Yuri formed a small smile and offered her hand to help him get back up on his feet.

"No problem."

"Oi! Are you two okay?" Gojyo's voice boomed nearby.

Yuri glanced at Sanzo, who nodded back.

"Yeah, we're good!"

Making their way back to where the others were, just in time to see the two yōkai were done to be dealt.

" _Phew!_ All those fighting's making me feel starving," Goku wiped the sweat on his forehead. Turning to his Master and neesan were, he smiled brightly but quickly faded when he saw the stern expression on Yuri's face.

"Neesan?"

Yuri took out something from the small pouch on her waist: clean bandages. She wrapped the bandage on her left wrist that was bleeding carefully.

"Tell me what happened. You'd mentioned several times that I was being misinformed? I want to know by whom."

Hakkai nodded. "Yes. But first thing first, please allow me to help you with that injury, Yuri-san," Gently, he took her left wrist and began healing it.

Yuri muttered thanks. Once he had healed her, Hakkai began telling her what happened between Shin and Hoku.

"...And so, that's the whole story," Hakkai kept a close watch on the Taijiya.

Everyone was holding their breath, watching as the information they have just given her began to sulk in.

Yuri gasped. Her eyes grew widened. She taken a few steps backwards, nearly tripped on her own foot if Gojyo hadn't caught her in time.

"Oi, pull yourself together," Yuri silently thanked him before pushing herself away from him to stand on her own.

Narrowing her eyes and with a deep frown, Yuri stomped her way out of the exit, ignoring the calls of her comrades.

 **BY** the time Yuri reached the town, dawn was approaching. Yuri was surprised to see at least, the entire townsmen were gathering at the entrance. Shin and Hoku were standing at the front. Shin bore a worried look, whereas the latter stood with a wooden walking stick. Hoku looked anything but annoyed that he had to be kept away from his beauty sleep because of this!

When Yuri arrived, Shin couldn't be more than happier to greet her.

"Thank Gods, you're alive Miss Taijiya! We were so worried! My sincere apologies!" Shin quickly lowered his head in a bow. "This shouldn't have happened. If only I hadn't walked out yesterday-" His words got cut by Yuri who lifted one hand in the air to refrain him from speaking.

Confused, Shin watched as she walked and sropped before the other man. Before anyone could say or react,Yuri then did something that was totally unexpected of her: she punched him. Straight in the face!

Yuri had forced to held her strengths back so that the elderly man wouldn't blacked out. Though, she did put some force into it so that he toppled on the ground with a bleeding nose.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, bitch?!" One of the townsmen reached out to grab her arms, when he was stopped by another pair of hands holding his wrists tightly.

"Let's not be hasty here. The taijiya is not in a good mood, after all," Gojyo smirked, winking at the Taijiya to let her know he had her back.

"But she _hit_ the Mayor! Have you had no shame hitting an elderly man!"

"I'd pulled back. Believe me, if I didn't, his face would still be planting on the ground right now," Yuri said darkly. Glaring at the trembled old man on the ground, Yuri continously said, "The reason why I pulled back was because to thanks you. Because of you I'd managed to discover a little bit about my Okashira's whereabout. But do not ever think for a second that I'm done forgiving you. Not only did you had sent me to my grave early before I could finish my mission, but you had caused me to stain my hands with innocent blood all due to your own selfishness!"

Yuri raised her voice. "I don't know how it is possible for a man such as yourself able to become a Mayor, but I hope for the sake of others, you step down from your position and let a worthy one become a Mayor instead. Before it's too late."

With her last finishing words that left many speechless, Yuri stomped away toward the inn they had decided to stay for the previous night, to cool down and get some well-deserved sleep before they have to depart again.

 **PLEASE READ!**

 **Hello everyone! Firstly, I apologise for the late update. I'm juggling between two jobs and two novels need to be update, FF and also my japanese class for my JLPT this coming December. So yeah...**

 **Secondly, I want to talk about this story. Now, as you could probably guess, this will be a slow romance for Sanzox OC. Why you may ask? Well, because I personally believe people like Sanzo will need some time to realise his own feelings for Yuri, our dear Taijiya. I mean, the guy stubbornly refused to admit caring for his companions, why on Earth would he suddenly changed 360 for the sake of a girl? It's unrealistic. And I like my Sanzo the way he was created, thank you very much.**

 **Of course, as many of you have already guessed, there's going to be a love triangle~ It's pretty obvious isn't it?**

 **Anyhow, I still haven't received any reviews for this story, but I do received a few likes and followers. So THANK YOU!**

 **I will update the next chapter as soon as I finished reediting my novel's current chapter. Until then, ENJOY!**


	6. Chapter 6: A Misunderstanding

**Disclaimer: I do not owed any of the Saiyuki characters except the Taijiya, Yuri, and the plot of this story. Everything else rightfully belong rightfully to Kazuya Minekura Sensei.**

 **Chapter 6: Misunderstanding**

 **IT** was yet another boring day for the Sanzo Ikkou. Today was no better. They had to cross-country through yet another thick forest in the mountains. Day in and day out, they have been doing nothing but fought the Yokāi, ate, slept and carried on with the journey to the West.

It had been a month now. Truthfully, everyone was getting tired of the same old routines, but were forced to swallow it down. It wasn't until one day, Goku decided to ask a question.

"Ne, I wonder what Kougaiji and the others are doing?"

"Out of all the question ya could have asked," Gojyo sighed, facepalming his forehead. "You really are a dumb monkey, aren't you?"

"What's wrong with asking about Kougaiji? He's a friend, isn't he?"

This time, it was Sanzo who scoffed. "Friend, you'd say? More like a pain in the ass."

Hakkai laughed cheerfully at the comments while Yuri gave them a questioning look.

"May I ask who is this Kougaiji person you're talking about, Goku?"

Goku's eyes instantly brightened. Looking up at his oneesan, he began retelling her about their on and off frenemy relationship with Kougaiji and company.

Yuri listened attentively. At times, she nodded while Goku demonstrated certain acts in his story (mostly boosting his ego by telling her how many times he'd won a match against the Yokāi Prince).

Gojyo listened with his eyes rolled repeatedly, while Sanzo scoffed every now and then.

Decided that the Monkey already had enough of the Taijiya's precious time, Gojyo grinned and made a remark by stating of about how slow-minded the monkey boy had been when that one time, a brainwashed Kougaji, had sneaked upon him.

"I'd kicked his ass in the end, didn't I! At least I wasn't the one imagining being burnt by a fire by a pathetic illusionist!"

"It was harder to fight it more than your small brain could ever imagine, stupid monkey!"

"Ero-Kappa!"

"Monkey brain!"

"SHUT UP!"

Sanzo swung the harrisen and it hit both yokai in the head. Yuri who had expertly to dodge the harrisen, just smiled politely at them. Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by Hakkai's question:

"So, Yuri-san. You've been travelling with us for quite some time now. How do you like it so far?"

Maintaining a positive smile as he threw the question, the one-eyed man could feel the tension rising at the back and the argument stopped instantly.

Yuri blinked her eyes innocently and pondered the question for a bit.

"Okay, I guess. I mean," smiling slyly, Yuri continuously said, "I haven't _killed_ anyone yet."

 _"Sca~ry~"_ Gojyo whistled. He grinned widely at her.

"That's a good comeback, Yuri-san," Hakkai nodded. "I guess we all have to always be on our toes and stay in your good grace, isn't that right?"

To say Hakkai was slightly disappointed with her reply, well, not so much. Though he was hoping she would respond in more direct manners.

 _Ah well,_ Hakkai shrugged. Beggars can't be choosy. At least he got the response he'd been waiting for from the Monk and the Water Sprite.

Gojyo and Sanzo. The Ying and Yang of the group. It took a lot of nerves for them to be in the same room without them trying to kill each other.

The only time Hakkai briefly remembered they'd been forced to really put aside their differences was during the Kami-sama's incident. That was the only time they'd chose to really tolerate each other's presence rather than biting their heads off.

Recently, however, Hakkai noticed the subtle changes between the two hard-headed men and their attitudes, especially when it comes to the taijiya.

Ever since she had nearly knocked the light of an elderly man named Hoku, who intentionally deceived her into killing innocent Yokāi and had nearly got her killed in the process about a month ago, something had lighted in Sanzo's eyes then.

The monk had often kept a close watch on the only female in their group.

Initially, Hakkai thought nothing of it.

Days went by, when he began to notice furthermore on how Sanzo had particularly paid extra attention to the taijiya whenever they fought the Yokāi.

Surprised, he kept a close eye on the situation closely and came to a surprising conclusion that Sanzo might be in fact, very much intrigued by the expression Yuri had shown whenever she was in heat of the battle.

Moreover so, it was her eyes that spoke volume.

The sharp glare and flame in her eyes combined with her heart's burning desire to win the fight had no matter what the cost nearly caused Sanzo's head to be skewered had it wasn't for Gojyo who quickly saved the monk's ass in split seconds.

As a result, the monk received a sneer from the pervy water sprite for not paying attention.

"My, Hakkai-san. You don't think I'd earned the title as the 'best of the best' taijiya just because of my cute look, do you? Give me more credits!" Yuri teased, giggling.

"My apologies, Yuri-san." Hakkai chuckled lightheartedly, tilting his head.

"Unlike you three, I do not possess any special skills or longevity, with an exception for the weapons on my back. Hence, I am still very much vulnerable to the enemies' attack. A taijiya must always be prepared for anything to come. One slipped move could cause us in a compromising state or worse, fatal. For example — "

Her hands flashed out, a few kunai attached with explosions firecrackers were thrown at a huge object — a boulder that suddenly came out of nowhere and heading toward them at rapid speed.

Caught by surprise, Hakkai swerved the jeep sharply to the side to avoid them from getting collide with the boulder that had almost hit them exploded to tiny pieces, leaving debris and dust all over them.

"What was that?" Goku blinked, unshed the leftover debris from his shoulders.

"Something about this looks _very_ familiar," Gojyo frowned. Before he could retort, a familiar high-pitched voice.

"Baldy Sanzo! Prepare to meet your doom!"

"Speaks of the Devil," Hakkai smiled.

True enough, a small figure emerged and landed right on top of the jeep.

"Lirin! Long time no see," Goku waved a hand. He smiled brightly. "You're alone? Where's Kougaiji and the others?"

" _Humph_! Onii-chan and the others are busy at the moment," big emerald eyes looked from Sanzo ikkou to the additional member of their group who stood stiffly. One hand rested on the wakizashi' hilt, ready to draw it out.

"Who is she? A new member?" Lirin pointed a finger at Yuri.

"Yes," Hakkai nodded. "This is Yuri-san. She's a —"

"A Japanese yokai Taijiya! How cool is that, right? She's my oneesan!" exclaimed Goku, proudly.

Blinking her eyes rapidly. Lirin repeated the words slowly.

"Tai..jiya? What's that?"

"It means—" Once again, Hakkai was being interrupted by someone calling out for Lirin.

"Lirin-sama!"

Three familiar figures landed a few feet away from Lirin. One of them,a female Yokāi with two long ponytails, hair approached them in haste with a worrisome expression on her pretty face.

Upon seeing her charge, who had once again gone missing under her watch, was have a conversation with their regular frienemies, Yaone let out a heaved sigh.

"Thank Goodness, you're okay, Lirin-sama," Forehead deepened in a frown, Yaone prepared to lecture the Princess when she noticed an additional member in the Ikkou group. But before she could say anything, a deep grouchy voice behind her spoke aloud.

 _"Lirin!"_

Lirin winced at the sharp tone her beloved brother.

"Didn't I warned you not to wander around on your own? Honestly!"

"That's because you're too slow, Oniichan! I've spotted them miles away just now."

"Still, that doesn't mean you can run off like that, Lirin-sama. You know how cranky our Prince gets when you leave him behind," Dokugakuji smirked, trying to keep the air cool between them.

"Yaone?" Kougaiji called his subordinate who had been silence and looking at someone since a while ago. Following her sight, he easily found her target.

Meanwhile, Yuri stood stiffly in her seat. Never before in her life, she had to suppress her taijiya instinct from being surrounded by Yokāi.

Being surrounded by three Yokāi she could handle, but _seven?_ Her inner self-was having an eternal debate whether or not she should spring into action.

The only thing that stopped her from drawing the wakizashi out was Sanzo. Yuri figured, if the new incomers were as threatening as the previous Yokāi they'd fought, then he would have been the first to pull the banishing gun.

Taking a deep breath, Yuri tried to relax her stiff muscles. Her ears perked up the deep grouchy sound belonged to the leader of the pack.

"Genjyo Sanzo, today shall be the day I'll retrieve the Maten Scroll! Prepare yourself!"

Yuri's muscles tensed at his threatening words. Now she's really gonna spring into action — when she felt a warm hand tapped on her shoulders and gently pulling her back into her seat.

"Don't sweat it, cutie," Gojyo winked at her. "Ya just sit here and look pretty. We'll take care of this."

"W-What?" Blinking her eyes rapidly, she didn't get the chance to ask him what did he mean by that when Gojyo, Hakkai and Goku jumped out of the jeep.

Leaving herself, Sanzo and the Yokāi girl named Lirin.

"Don't worry about them," Sanzo puffed a smoke. "They can handle it."

"If you say so," Yuri frowned slightly. Part of her wanted to join in the fight, but she obeyed his indirect order anyway and stayed in her seat, watching the battle from afar.

"Ne, are you really what the stupid monkey said you are? Tai-something?"

"Taijiya. I am what you called a Yokai slayer," Yuri smiled. "Rest assure, I will not hurt Yokāi who are innocent and—"

"Cool! A slayer huh? I bet I could take you down in one swift kick!" Lirin grinned widely, punching a fist in the air.

"I'm sorry. But I refuse to fight with a mere child. Even if you are likely to be a worthy opponent," Yuri crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away, indicating the end of the discussion to focus on the ongoing battle.

Yuri felt a breeze of wind swiftly brushed her left cheek. Eyes widened, she suddenly leapt in the air just in time to block an incoming roundhouse kick aimed for her head.

Kicking the air in mid-air, Yuri made a safe jump a few feet away from her opponent.

Landing one foot on the ground gracefully, Yuri lowered down to the ground in a crouch, with knees bent forward in a defensive position. One hand rested on the hilt of her blade.

"So you're not just all managed to avoid Lirin's Super-Powerful Kick!" Lirin spoke, smugly.

Yuri kept silence. Sharp eyes never left her opponent.

"What's wrong, Taijiya? Don't you want to play with me?"

"Lirin, stop it! Neesan will never fight with you!" Goku protested.

"Why is that?" Yaone asked softly. The suspicious in her eyes never left since she saw the taijiya seated in the jeep.

"Because Neesan's much better than that! She would never hurt innocent or helpless Yokāi even though she's a taijiya!"

Something snapped inside of Yaone the moment those words came out of his mouth. Hands clenched, she vanished from her spot beside Kougaiji in a blur motion. She reappeared seconds later, swinging her spear at the taijiya, which she blocked with the wakizashi.

"Oi, Yaone!"

"Yaone-san?!" Hakkai's eye grew widened. Though they may be enemies, it was perhaps the first time he had seen the usually gentle yokai attacked someone so viciously.

Glancing to Kougaiji, Hakkai could tell even her teammates were in a great shock.

Meanwhile, Yuri dodged the blows which aimed for her head with slight difficulties. Mainly because she was doing nothing except defending herself with the wakizashi. Yaone's fast due to the weapon's weight and her ability to wield it.

Gritting her teeth, Yuri swore under her breath when the Yokāi changed her tactic and aimed the blade on her stomach instead. Drawing her wakizashi, Yuri brought the blade down and prepared to land a strike when something flash came flying toward her and purposely missed her left eye but managed to graze on her skin — a bullet.

Gaining her conscious back in time, Yuri's blade landed a sharp hit on Yaone's spear, causing the latter to lose her grip on the spear. Taking the chance, Yuri pointed the end of her sharp blade on her opponent's neck.

"Yaone!"

"Neesan!" Hakkai and Goku were the first to reach them followed by Gojyo, Dokugaiji and the Prince.

Yuri took a step back, not lowering her guards but allowed some space for the young Yokai to stand up.

"Yaone, why were you so determined to fight her?" Kougaiji asked.

Yaone lowered her head. "My deepest apologies, Lord Kougaiji. However, I simply could not stand here and allowed the person who massacred my entire village walked away freely!"

"What did you say?"

"You're lying! Neesan will never do such thing!"

"Months ago, I've received a letter from a friend next to my village saying a group of humans known as the 'Taijiya from the North' have went rampaged. They'd went from one village to another and mercilessly killed hundreds of innocent Yokāi. One of the villages happened to be MY village!"

Tears started dripping down on her cheeks.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Yaone-san. But what made you so sure it was Yuri-san who committed the crime?"

"Come to think about it, there have been reports of how a young female human known as the 'taijiya' travelling from one village to another. Recently, it is said that she'd massacred three of the well-known tribal Yokāi who had not caused any harms or problems to the nearby village whatsoever. It is also said that she's heading to the West!"

Dokugakuji chipped in.

His eyes grew widened with a realisation.

"That's right," Yaone muttered. "I'd rather bleed to death than having her anywhere near Lord Kougaiji!"

"Please wait, Yaone-san, Dokugaiji-san. There has to be a misunderstanding! Yuri-san has been travelling with us for a month now and I can assure you she would never intentionally hurt," Hakkai defended.

"Hakkai-san, it's alright," Yuri stepped in, patting the older man softly on his left shoulder. Her eyes lingered on Yaone and the rest.

"I'm certain you won't believe me of what I'm about to tell you, but I do hope you give me a chance to properly explain myself. If by then, you still decide that it is in your best interest to eliminate me, then I will not hesitate to fight back this time. I have a single purpose; a mission, that is to go to the West and more importantly; the Hontou Castle, no matter what. For that, I will not allow anyone nor anything to stand in my way."

Once again, her eyes spoke volume in those words she had just said.

Kougaiji stared intimidatingly at her. He was obviously judging her character and words and tried to find any lies in those brown orbs. After a while of awkward silence, the Yokāi

Prince cleared his throat.

"Fine. But know this, Taijiya: should you ever dare to pull anything on us, I will hesitate to kill you with my own bare hands."

"Deal."

Everyone (Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo) let out a heaved sigh when the tension around them began to disperse.

Forging a kind smile, Hakkai offered a temporary peace treaty between them for the rest of the day, giving as the night was slowly approaching them.

 **"LIRIN** , don't go stealing my fishes!"

"Heheh! Finder's keeper, losers weepers!" Lirin grinned smugly.

Unashamedly, she began to consume the grilled fish on a wooden stick much to Goku's cringe at the loss of his fish.

While the monkey and idiot were having yet another verbal arguing about fishes, the rest of the crowd shook their heads and sighed tiredly.

"How do you NOT go insane when there are not one, but TWO annoying monkeys fighting over a freakin' fish?" Gojyo clicked his tongue irritatingly, at the background noise. Sitting beside him, Hakkai was shown feeding Hakuryuu a fish.

"Well, I guess I've gotten used to tuning out the silly argument you two have so often that it doesn't bother me one bit. How about you, Sanzo?"

Sanzo who seated beside him gritted his teeth tightly. The wooden chopstick that was on his fingers had already snapped into two. As the argument between Goku and Lirin getting louder, so as Sanzo's patients which quickly faded until finally, he snapped.

"WILL THE BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?!" He knocked the two young idiots on the head with harrisen before giving them a lecture they would never forget.

Yuri sighed, watching the scene unfold right before her very eyes. Having taken the only available seat which was beside Sanzo, it was hard for her not to choke on any fish bones when the man was screaming at the top of his lungs while he disciplined their two youngest companions.

Her eyes roamed on the rest of Kougaiji's party on the opposite campsite. Yaone had calmed herself earlier, which allowed Yuri to properly explain to them what had truly happened. She told them the story about the mysteriously 'Black Raven' man and the truth incident behind the Three Tribal Yokai.

Kougaiji had been furious upon learning about the Black Raven man, but refused to comment anything further. Meanwhile, Yaone, had decided she needed some time to ponder about it for a while and will let her know the answer first thing tomorrow morning. Dokugakuji had hinted however, everything would be alright with his teammate and that Yuri has nothing to be worried about.

It didn't take long for everyone to retreat to their respective camps. Goku had gone to sleep as soon as his head touched the ground and he snored away loudly much to everyone's annoyance.

Sometime later in the middle of the night, a dark figure slowly emerged from the Ikkou's camp site. Feet as light as cloud, the unknown shadowy figure carefully made it's way to a beautiful moonlight lake not too far away from the camping site.

Putting her belonging in one spot under the tree, Yuri checked on her surroundings to make sure there were be no wandering eyes lingering around. Once decided that she was all alone in the forest, she began to strip behind a tall tree nearby the lake.

Finished stripping with a towel wrapping her body, Yuri cautiously made her way into the cold water until it covered her chest.

 _Kami, that feels so good!_ They have been stuck in the forest for two long days without taken a proper bath since they were constantly on the move, which only means there was no time for any luxury especially when they had to camp outdoor without Sanzo barking orders to them to hurry the hell up.

Taking the time to wash her body and her long wavy hair, all the sudden, Yuri heard a footsteps sound mildly coming not far from where she currently was.

 _What? Who could possibly be waking up at this hours?_ Her trains of thought were scattered by the sound of someone entering into the lake.

Heartbeat wildly, she reached out for few senbon which she bought alongside that was hidden in a small pocket on the towel she wrapped around her body with. Her mind was running thousand of scenarios how she would be able to escape from when a deep husky voice suddenly said, "How long are you going to stand there and stare?"

Yuri yelped, automatically lowered down until only her nose was not covered by the water.

Seconds passed by in silence before she finally realised who it was.

"Sanzo?!" Yuri turned her head so fast to look at the figure who just entered the lake. He was keeping his distance away from her by hiding in the shades.

"What are _you_ doing?"

"Dipping. What else?" He answered bored.

"I got here first. Go away!"

"No."

"I'm butt-naked!"

"Like I give a damn."

"High-Priests like you are NOT supposed to look at women, ESPECIALLY butt-naked women! Don't you have any shame?...Then again, you are unlike any other priest out there, aren't you?" Yuri muttered mostly to herself at the last paragraph.

Sighed, Yuri tried her best to ask him politely to move away.

"Look, I really appreciate if you could swim to somewhere else where I can't see you. The lake's big anyway! Please, _Sanzo-sama?_ " She even threw in some eyes batting technique even though she couldn't possibly tell if he could see her or not.

Sanzo puffed circles of smoke before he said, "Make me."

Groaned frustratingly, Yuri hissed, "Alright, Mr. Monk. If you don't get out in a count of 3, I will throw these _senbons_ at you!"

"Tch. _You_ move if you're so damn worried. Besides, not like you have ANYTHING for me to look at anyway. You're just a young woman trapped in a child's body. Even that little runt has something to look at, and she's only a child—"

Something metallic grey flashed before his very eyes. Sanzo dodged the weapon and they hit a nearby tree behind him instead.

Deadly senbons. He'd seen how she used them to kill the Yokāi.

Despite his ego not willing to admit he was slightly scared of what she might be able to do to him, Sanzo was unintentionally curious to know just how and what else does the fierce and exciting taijiya had on her sleeves.

Too bad, while he was nearly gotten himself skewered by the senbons, she'd left. All he could think about was the increasingly flush her rosy cheeks.

 _Damn._

 **YURI** gritted her teeth very tightly. Sanzo's obnoxious and mocking words about the size of her breasts kept on replaying in her mind. No matter how many times she forced herself to swallow it down, she just simply could not let it go.

Out of all the things, he could have easily criticised her skills or weaknesses as a taijiya, or even her unfeminine mannerism and she would gladly accepted it with an opened heart!

But _noo_ , Genjyo Sanzo had to take one step further and unleashed the wicked Yokāi within her when he had mockingly criticised the only thing she do not admired the most about herself! He even went as far as

comparing the Yokāi Princess to her own!

 _That son of bitch!_

Frustrating beyond belief, Yuri decided enough was enough! She had swallowed down his brash, obnoxious and rude attitudes toward her for a month WITHOUT her throwing anything back at him.

Inhaling deeply, with her hand tightened the towel around her figure, Yuri turned around and shouted at the top of her lungs, "MY BREASTS ARE DEVELOPED JUST FINE, YOU PERVERTED MONK!"

Needless to say, the next morning, the men (excluding the irritating perverted monk and Hakkai), were in deep shades of red when they woke up the very next morning and refused to look her in the eyes.

 **Author's Notes: Minna-san konnichiwa! Sorry for the late update! I AM working the story as much as I can. As you can see in this chapter, there's a slight improvement between the characters and our dear Taijiya-san. Who knew Sanzo would act on like that right? XD (give yourself a shoutout in the review section if you knew it was Sanzo!) Anyway, it is quite a long chapter. I feel like I need to get the Kougaji and co intro out of my system so that it will creates room for ideas in the future. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Until next time! ;))**


	7. Chapter 7: A Bad Day

**Disclaimer: I do not owed any of the Saiyuki characters except the Taijiya, Yuri, and the plot of this story. Everything else rightfully belong rightfully to Kazuya Minekura Sensei.**

 **Shoutout to Draegan88 for being the first to leave a review! This chapter is dedicated for you! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Bad Day**

 **A** pair of black boots stepped on dried blood stained ground. The cave he was visiting had been abandoned for a month now, ever since a so-called 'taijiya' had unintentionally caused a bloody massacre on the three powerful tribal Yokāi.

Well, not that he cared anyway, shrugged a scruffy jet-black haired man wearing an unusual white laboratory coat.

The sole reason why he even bothered to come here in the first place at the peak of his busy schedule, was because he was curious to see how much damaged his little _tigress_ had done to the place. How much she had played with her _preys_.

It seemed that she had a lot of 'fun' to begin with. Black eyes roamed around the blood coated walls in the cave.

He whistled impressively. "Not surprisingly, considering she is 'the best of the best' taijiya. Isn't she?"

Tilted his head to the side, he glanced at a shadow of a tall and lean handsome man with long and youthful face and short cut neatly in the back but with a distinctive fringe of permed bangs falling in front of his face and parted in the centre, standing at the entrance of the cave.

Dotted in a Western dress in the form of a deep blue, collarless short-sleeved dress shirt with a goldenrod trim, matching deep blue slacks and shiny black dress shoes.

On the outer layer, he wore a long, sweeping trench coat of light tan with a ribbed goldenrod interior trim. The man also wore deep blue, wide-mouthed fingerless gloves.

Piercing cold-blue eyes looked around the surrounding area with a deep scowl.

"Why are we doing here? The target's long gone. She'd left this place a month ago."

"Aren't you curious?" The jet-black man suddenly asked. "She disappeared for months and had assumed to be _dead_ when all the sudden, we've heard rumours that a taijiya has committed a terrible massacre on the three powerful tribal yokai in the East Continent. Don't you want to see how she's been after all this time?"

The handsome man narrowed his eyes. He knew and refused to play the mind game — a reverse psychology that the latter was trying to play on him.

"Whether she's alive or dead, it does not matter. If she's indeed still alive, then she won't be for any longer. If you're done here, I'd like to get moving."

The jet-black man made a mocked bow. "As you wish... _Okashira-san."_

* * *

 **MILES** away, the Ikkou had finally arrived in a decent town after trekking in the forest for days. After their brief encountered with Kougaiji and the others, in which Yaone had decided to let Yuri go after she had being accused of killing her village, the ikkou proceeded with their journey to the West with the same routines.

" _Finally!_ My joints are all sore," Goku stretched his legs for good measure the moment he got out of the jeep. While he and the others were animatedly talking where the inn was, Hakkai, being the last person to disembark from the jeep, noticed something was slightly off with their only female companion.

Yuri had a hand over her pale face. Her forehead was damp from the sweat. She looked nothing like the usually bubbly and cheerful taijiya. Hakkai noticed how since yesterday, she had been quieter than the usual — not even shown any interest in stopping the constant argument between Sanzo and the two Yokāi like she'd normally do.

Even her breathing was slightly hitched, Hakkai noticed.

"Yuri-san, are you alright? You look really pale," asked the Yokāi gently with concerned.

"Hakkai-san. You'd mentioned you were once a married man, right?"

Hakkai's eye grew widened at her sudden and unexpected question that he managed to gasp awkwardly.

"Well, I'd lived with a woman before, if that's what you mean…"

"Good. Cause you're the only one whom I could feel comfortable enough to tell you about this…" Her face was slightly flushed, with eyebrows tightened.

Hakkai could have guessed what she was about to tell him was something she obviously did not feel comfortable with.

Taking a deep breath, Yuri proceeded. "Hakkai-san, I'm not in the best condition to be moving around quite as much at the moment, and I'm at my most vulnerable state. Normally, I'd hide away for three days at least to avoid any encounters with Yokāi…"

Hakkai looked at the young woman intensely, clearly waiting for her explanation.

"I have my… Um.. It's that time of the month again."

There was a brief pause. For a moment, Yuri regretted telling him about her weak condition and even feared the man might not feel comfortable with what she's talking about. But this was Hakkai, after all. If there's anyone whom she'd trusted the most to keep the other guys away from disturbing her while she recuperates, it's him.

"I understand," Hakkai smiled, with his eye crinkled at her. Looking at her sympathetically, Hakkai said, "Would you like to go ahead and rest in the room first? I'll bring you some food later. Do you need me to buy you anything?"

Relief was all over Yuri the moment he asked her those questions. At least now, she knew she could count on him if ever she required any helps in this department. Returning his smile, Yuri shook her head.

"I'll make you a list of what I need. But right now, I'm really famished, so I think I'll eat first and then go to sleep."

Nodded, Hakkai guided her to the inn where the others were already waiting.

Food came in as soon as those two have taken their seats. Apparently, their companions did not bother to wait for them to order their meals. Once again, Yuri found an available seat was reserved for her in between the blonde monk and the pervy water sprite.

Thought nothing of it, Yuri proceeded to take her seat and sighed. She had to resist putting her head down on the table and shut her eyes. Her lower part of the stomach was making her feel very uncomfortable. The reason why she did not want to tell the guys about her conditions was because she did not want them to be awkward and uncomfortable around her.

Especially Goku. _Sweet innocent Goku._

Yuri doubted very much Sanzo had taught him anything regarding a woman's menstrual cycle, if not, anything at all. And Gojyo? As cool and honourable of a man that he is, deep down, Yuri knew he would be most awkward when to this topic. Which left her to Hakkai.

Thank goodness the man had the experience of living with a woman before, and therefore, knew how to handle the situation and what to expect.

While everyone was eating their food, they barely heard the front door opened and the restaurant manager nearby the door, greeted the person with a cheerful 'welcome'. It wasn't until they heard the heavy sound of footsteps approaching their table, did they stop munching on their food and looked up.

Yuri gasped loudly. Her eyes grew widened. Before she could even utter a word, instantly she found herself being yanked from her seat and slammed against the wall.

"Yuri!"

"Neesan!"

Plates breaking, loud voices of people screaming horrifyingly were the only sound that echoed in her ears, as well as her own heart beating rapidly. Big brown eyes looked terrifyingly at the man whom she had not seen for months — the man she'd been seeking for all this while.

"Okashira-sama..."

The Okashira looked down at her with emotionless sharp piercing eyes. He had his elbow pressing on her throat while his sword in Gatotsu form of the Hirazuki stance, with the edge of the blade, positioned right at the centre of her forehead. There's a reason why he was the Okashira and Yuri, being only the 'best of the best' taijiya within their Community, even if she disagreed with his way of Commanding.

Shido Akirashi, a natural born genius and the youngest Okashira of the taijiya village. Shido's skills in combat, stealth and reconnaissance were acknowledged as the best of his generations. Which explained why she failed to detect his presence earlier and didn't see his attack.

"Yuri of the East. You are hereby under arrest for sullying the good name of the Taijiya Village of the North. Your punishment is death by the hands of the Okashira."

"You've got to be kidding me," Yuri wheezed.

"Where is the blueprint?" Shido deepened the pressure his elbow into her throat.

A glimpse of bright green light caught his eyes before a surge of the blast hit to where he once stood. He leapt into the air and landed a distance away. Shido barely had time to react before three consequence bullets fired at him.

Dodging the bullets, Shido didn't let his guards down when a sound of chained sickle attacked him from above when Gojyo's chains wrapped around his sword, causing the man to be immobilised.

"That's what you get for ruining our dinner, you piece of shit!" the red-haired Yokāi grinned.

Cursed, Shido forcefully tried pulling his sword away from the chain when he felt another incoming attack. He defended the first incoming attack by Goku using his left wrist. Quickly, he grabbed Goku's staff and twisted it around before he pulled the boy closer and kicked him hard in the stomach into the concrete walls.

"Goku!" Gojyo cried out. His grip on the chain remained tightened as his eyes wandered worriedly about the monkey's condition.

Shido's eyes narrowed. Goku? The Son Goku who is infamously known as the Seiten Taisei? Which means…

"SHIDO!"

A flash of grey appeared before him before the sound of swords clashed. Yuri leapt forward, bringing her wakizashi to give a final strike when something countered her attack —

A figure that came out of nowhere, stood in between them. It was a female figure with long wavy silver hair hidden beneath the long dark cloak, had stopped her from hitting the Okashira by merely using a kunai.

Yuri quickly leapt backwards enough to create some space between them, she pointed her blade at both of them. Using the kunai, the mysterious girl easily freed the Okashira's sword from Gojyo's chains, causing the half-Yokāi to lose his balance and grip on the chains and fell on his butts.

Shido grabbed his sword. Glaring at Yuri, he said in a haughty voice, "This isn't over."

With a signal to the mysterious girl, they speed to the exit and disappeared into the night.

"Oi, wait! You— _shitface!_ " Gojyo growled loudly, getting up on his feet. Making a tsk sound, he went to check on the stupid monkey and repeatedly stomping on his head.

"Wake up you stupid monkey! How long do you planning to sleep on the damn floor?! Wake up I said!"

While Gojyo was waking Goku up, Sanzo and Hakkai observed the massive mess they have unintentionally created in the restaurant.

The Monk sighed heavily. Walking toward the pale and very frightened manager, he wordlessly took out the golden 'Kami' card and handed it over to him.

"Yuri-san?" Hakkai approached the young woman, still wielding the wakizashi, cautiously. "Are you alright? Are you injured?"

When Yuri didn't respond, Hakkai's worries grew.

"Yuri-san?"

It was then when he noticed how shaken her legs were and how she had her right hand pressed on the right side of her body where there was a long cut on her hips. Blood began to pour down in a small pond on her feet.

"Yuri-san!"

Hakkai scooped her into his arms gently not to make the wound worsened and head straight to the door. "Sanzo! I'm taking Yuri-san back to the room. She's in need an immediate medical treatment!"

Sanzo turned his head. A deep scowled appeared when his eyes met with her wound. Without a word, he dismissed them while he dealt with the commotion at the restaurant.

* * *

" **HOW'S** she?"

"She's stable. The doctor said she just needs plenty of rest to recuperate." Hakkai answered with ease as the guys prepared to settle down for the night after the huge commotion at the restaurant. He didn't bother to tell them about Yuri's uncomfortable state.

"That Shido guy. Is he the guy Neesan was after? If so, why does he wants to kill her?"

"Who knows," Gojyo shrugged, lighting the cigarette on his mouth. Puffing the smoke, he scratched the back of his head. "So, what are we supposed to do now?"

"Goku, go and wake her up. She has some explanation to do," Sanzo ordered.

Before Goku could even stand from his bed, Hakkai stopped him.

"Let us not. I know Yuri-san owes us an explanation, Sanzo, but she's really worn off from the fight earlier, not to mention, she didn't look too well to begin with earlier today."

"Huh. It is unlike you to cover up someone's arse, Hakkai. What are _you_ hiding?" The Monk narrowed his eyes. He knew what he was saying sound absurd, even to him. But for some reason that rebuffed him, Sanzo didn't like the way the gentle Yokāi had been acting with the Taijiya all evening — of how _protective_ he had been around her.

That _irked_ him.

Hakkai however, kept his cool. Glancing down at their leader with a blank face, he proceeded by saying, "As I've stated earlier, we can wait until Yuri-san wakes up to interrogate her. Moreover, I'm sure everyone is tired. I am for once, would like to get a decent amount of rest before we have to start leaving again."

Not giving any chance for his comrades for a comeback, Hakkai went to his side of the bed with Harkuryuu and quickly settled down with his back facing them.

While he heard his comrades faintly grumbling (Sanzo mostly) before they all settled down to their own beds, Hakkai's mind was mostly occupied with other important things.

Before the others had returned and after Hakkai had sent the doctor away after thanking for his kindness for treated the Taijiya, Yuri had called Hakkai over to her bed before she handed him something.

" _I would like you to keep this for me for a while,"_ she handed him the blueprint of the Hontou Castle. " _I'm sorry to have to burden you with this task, Hakkai-san. I would have never expected the Okashira to come to me instead of me coming for him. He's after the blueprint, that I'm sure of it. But with my current condition, he will surely have no problem taking it away from me and I can't allow him to do that. That's why…"_ Yuri looked at him, pleadingly and desperate in her eyes.

" _I can't let him have the blueprint no matter what. I'll explain everything to Sanzo-sama, I promise. Hakkai-san, will you keep the blueprint for me for now until I'll retrieve it back? I promise it won't be long — a week, the longest. Please."_

 _"Yuri-san..."_ Hakkai settled from her desperate face to her hands still holding the blueprint scroll, waiting for him to take it.

" _Will you be alright, in your current condition?"_ Yuri stared in shock at the deep meaning of his question before slowly, she nodded.

" _I'll live. I promise."_ She gave him her best smile.

" _Very well then,"_ Hakkai sighed softly. " _You can leave the others to me."_

While it wasn't in his nature to lie to his comrades, he couldn't say no when the taijiya had looked at him so pleading as well. It's not that he felt any attraction toward her — his heart will always love Kana even when she's no longer with him mind, body and soul. No. what Hakkai felt toward Yuri was more of a kinship relation.

Yuri had told him a little bit of her life growing up in a taijiya village where the majority of them were males and the constant needs to prove herself worthy and equal in their eyes, he knew based on her life story, she had a hard time growing up.

Hakkai worried about her; of her good beings in general.

He just hoped that when he woke up the next morning, he had enough energy to keep his comrades calm down when they find out of how she'd left them in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping soundly.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Hello my fellow readers! As you've just read, I used the character Shinomori Aoshi from the manga/anime Rurouni Kenshin for my inspiration as the Okashira! Why you may ask? BECAUSE for some reason, he just fits along with the story (and because I can, so yea xD)**

 **Some of the japanese terms like the Gotatsu form of Hirazuki stance was taken from Saitou Hajime from the same manga/anime Rurouni Kenshin, which it had taken from a real-life figure, a man named Hijikata Toshizo.**

 **Here's the link to the site: http/kenshin./wiki/Gatotsu**

 **How do you like the story and my OC Yuri? I hope you like her! Do drop by a review good or bad and let me know what you think! Until then, ja ne!**


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